


finding perfect

by martainez



Series: how to have joy when christmas is hard [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Christmas Shopping, Dan's not having the time of his life, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 14:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16894146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/martainez/pseuds/martainez
Summary: The passive aggressive story of how Dan found the perfect gift to give to Phil





	finding perfect

**Author's Note:**

> I think I swore a few times...

Three hours. He spent three hours nonstop scrolling through Amazon in search of the ultimate Christmas gift. It was pointless. Every gadget he found too boring, every piece of clothing a sham for the fashion industry and every book either too short or too long. He even tried to search for certain keywords, he tried all the sentimental stuff. The ‘Manchester’ key gave no results but a few low-quality maps and souvenir shirts, the ‘2009’ one a CD cover of a band which members looked like they should have gone back to the barbershop and asked for a refund. 

The thought about buying a scented candle - a winning concept - was appealing, but what scent would Phil possible want that he didn’t own already? He wasn’t a fan of designer stuff, seeing it was apparently “Dan’s thing, and Dan’s thing it will remain”, _whatever he meant by that_. 

In deep frustration Dan even texted his friends, asking for some advice. The advice he received was shit, however. ‘Give him something related to an inside joke’ one advised - as if he hadn’t already done that. Every single year. ‘Something to remember, something romantic that he’ll cherish even after he’s passed away’ another said - oh god, that made it easier, didn’t it. No pressure, he just had to find a gift that would outlive them. Easy. 

He gave up on the internet completely when his computer shut down. He should have brought a charger to the lounge, but who the hell knew he was going to spend an absolute eternity in front of the screen?  


-

And that’s why Dan found himself sitting, squeezed down between a woman and a middle-aged man, on the underground. He’s doing the unimaginable - going outside to buy a Christmas gift. 

Funny, isn’t it, how Dan’s not the only one doing the unimaginable today. Somehow the whole town of London grew superpowers overnight and ventured out into the wilderness that is the streets of London in mid-December. 

He actually had to psychically fight to get to sit down. Well, it might have been an accident. Partly. He just gave someone the evil eye until they moved from their seat to escape his stare. And then he might have accidentally punched the person on their shoulder when he tried to get to the seat before anyone else took his well-earned trophy. 

He even had to stay on the underground for a whole five minutes extra due to delays in the traffic. And it was hot in the carriage, god was it hot. His curls were so curly he silently made a promise to himself never to eat the crust on anything ever again. But obviously not too silent as he got a handful of weird looks thrown his way - great, he was now marked as the ‘wierdo of the day’.

This was a nightmare, and it was going to get worse. 

When he got up from the station it was raining. And you know why that’s shit? Because, one, it wasn’t raining when he left home, causing him not to bring an umbrella, no but worse; wearing his new pure white lace up shoes. And two, it’s December, nearing Christmas - it's not supposed to fucking rain on Christmas. He doesn’t remember signing this devilish contract when he moved to London. 

He searched through store after store, and found nothing. How hard could it be to find the perfect gift? He just needed something Phil really wanted, somewhat needed, all this packaged into something that would fit his aesthetics. And of course, something that Dan and only Dan could think of to buy. Something that only someone who had lived and loved close to Phil for almost a decade would know that he wanted.

He would have asked some staff to help him, but what would he say? ‘I’m looking for something very special, I just don’t know what it is, can you help me find it?’. They would’ve laughed at him, asked for more details and Dan would’ve had to walk away all embarrassed. 

No, he just kept strolling up and down every single aisle of every single shop (spare for a few that would have been catastrophic if a viewer spotted him in). He eventually found himself going back to shops he already ventured through, just in case he missed anything. 

He walked out of the shopping centre filled with pure disappointment (and a chocolate frapino without marshmallows but with extra whipped cream). It had stopped raining at least, the sky still grey and cold as shit, but at least his shoes were going to look somewhat white still when he returned home. 

He sipped his drink, it was way too sugary and almost disgustingly sweet - just like Phil would have liked it. Too bad Dan hadn’t brought him to town, that would have made things a lot easier. He could’ve just asked Phil what he wanted, said that price wasn’t an issue, and then just bought it. But that’s not how sentimental gifts works, you're supposed to come up with an amazing idea yourself, one that really shows how much you love your significant other. The problem is, after nine years your “great-sentimental-gifts-idea-bank” runs completely dry. 

He thought about calling his mother for a rescue, she could tell him to come home early. In that way, he’d have a lot longer to find a gift. But that was never a real opinion, he knew that. He’s not even going home this Christmas, it would have been a see-through lie.

-

He’s was walking along a backstreet when he found the shop. It had a giant neon sign, aggressively showing the words ‘snip’ and ‘snap’ in his face. The store looked cosy, with plants all over the windows and the word ‘welcome’ written in calligraphy on a blackboard hanging on the door.

It screamed of Phil’s name. Or any other plant-loving geek with a weird-as-hell and purposely mismatched aesthetic.

He wasn’t the only customer in the store, it was him and a few others that looked like straight out of a hippies movie made by someone that had no idea what hippies were or how they dressed.

He found the perfect gift hanging on the wall. Or rather, the idea of the perfect gift. It was a poster, framed in a simple gold frame. The poster was a map of London, more specifically the part of London he was currently in, with the shop’s street centred. The design was simple, all roads golden on a white background, and the street’s name and coordinates written in a beautiful sans serif on the bottom half. It was perfect, or soon to be at least. 

He grabbed it from the wall and sped walked with it to the cashier. 

“I need this,” he said, loud and clear.

“I’m sorry, that one’s not for sale, it’s for display only.” 

“Not this one literally, I need this design with another address”.

“Oh, I’m sure we can get that fixed”.

-

He picked it up from the store a few days later and brought it home. It was perfect - absolutely perfect. 

Something Phil wanted, something he needed, something that fit his aesthetic, and most of all: something only Dan would think of buying. 

A poster in gold and white, picturing a map of Phil’s childhood street, with his old house in the centre. Underneath; the address, coordinates and a little text saying “where the adventure began”. 

Phil would never have to look up his old house on Google earth again, it would always be there, hanging on the wall, with him. He’ll have his old home in his new one. 

Perfect. Dan had managed to find the perfect gift. (Now begins the journey for the perfect wrapping paper).

**Author's Note:**

> I only know a sweden based website that does this kinds of posters, no need to link it?


End file.
